Northern Ireland school kids have been hailed for their scientific insight after developing projects including using mushrooms as insulation and raspberries as sun tan lotion.

Pupils from the region were recognised at the 52nd BT Young Scientist & Technology Exhibition which saw gongs won for research into why chopping onions makes you cry and how using electronic devices at bedtime can affect your sleep.

The all-Ireland event saw Co Dublin schoolgirls Maria Louise Fufezan, 16, and Diana Bura, 15, take home the top prize for their project entitled ‘An Investigation into the Effects of Enzymes used in Animal Feed Additives on the Lifespan of Caenorhabditis Elegans’.

From Northern Ireland a number of students were recognised at the awards ceremony in Dublin.

Beating off stiff competition from a total of 26 Northern Ireland finalists, St Patrick’s High School in Keady, Co Armagh picked up the award for ‘Best Northern Ireland School’ and they also received the accolade for ‘BT Northern Ireland Best Project’ with their project ‘Power Down to Power Up’.

Education Minister John O’Dowd with Edward Gaffney, Cathal Rice and Ryan McKee from St Patrick's High School Keady as they received the award for best project from Northern Ireland

It entered in the Social & Behavioural Sciences category at junior level and the group also received 2nd Place in the Social & Behavioural Junior Group for their entry.

A second project entered by the school entitled ‘An investigation into how foam reduces spillages in liquids’ in the Chemical, Physical & Mathematical Sciences category at junior level was also highly commended.

St Catherine’s College in Armagh received the ‘BT-Best Project in Irish’ Award for their project ‘Eiseapláinéid a Fhiosrú’. They were also highly commended for the same project in the Chemical, Physical & Mathematical Sciences category at intermediate level. A second project from St Catherine’s College was also highly commended - ‘Irish dancing is a sport, not just a hobby’ in the Biological and Ecological category at junior level.

A catalogue of other awards were presented to Northern Ireland schools at the ceremony:

• St Killian’s College in Antrim picked up 3rd Place in the ‘Technology Junior Group’ for their project ‘Speed Alert Shamer’ and they were also highly commended for their project ‘Distance Diagnostics’ in the Technology category at junior level.

• Rathmore Gs in Belfast were highly commended for their project ‘Dry Your Eyes’ which was entered into the Biological & Ecological category at intermediate level.

• Ballymena Academy in Antrim were highly commended for their project ‘Apollo 10D’ which was entered into the Chemical, Physical & Mathematical Sciences category at intermediate level.

• South Eastern Regional College-Bangor Campus were highly commended for their project ‘Investigating the antibacterial effects of honey’ in the Biological & Ecological category at senior level.

• St Mary’s College in Derry-Londonderry were highly commended for two projects in the Chemical, Physical & Mathematical Sciences category for their projects ‘Investigating the effect of reheating pasta on the rate of digestion of its starch by amylase’ at intermediate level and ‘Investigating the effect of various dietary supplements on the activity of lipase in digesting fat’ at junior level.

Alex Crossan, Managing Director Networks, BT Northern Ireland, said the BT Young Scientist & Technology Exhibition “continues to act as a springboard for future entrepreneurs, academics, scientists and technologists and we have countless past winners who are proof of that”.

He added: “I would like to sincerely congratulate every single student who took part this week and to the thousands of other students who submitted a project but unfortunately didn’t qualify. Of course, particular congratulations must go to Maria and Diana, who will now join a prestigious list of esteemed winners and go on to represent Ireland at the EU Young Scientist later this year.”

Education Minister John O’Dowd and Peter Morris (left) from BT pictured with Mark Conlon (second right) and James Gallagher from Rathmore Grammar School with their onions make you cry project

Education Minister John O’Dowd said he was “very impressed with the standard of the entries and also by the enthusiasm and depth of knowledge shown by all students who have taken part in the Exhibition”.

He told them: “You should all be proud of what you’ve achieved. It is important to recognise not only the hard work of the pupils, but also the support and dedication shown by school staff in assisting students to bring their projects to the exhibition. Such support is a crucial element in the development of young people and I commend teachers, classroom assistants and other school staff in all the local schools that made it to the finals event in Dublin.”

Almost 1,200 students from across the island of Ireland covering 550 projects from 29 counties competed in the RDS for the coveted title of ‘BT Young Scientist(s) & Technologist(s) of the Year’.

The event was on from Friday until Saturday and guests also saw live shows including mentalist David Meade, Celestial Voyage 3D and the renowned World of Robots and TITAN the Robot.